


A Need For Flowers

by scholarlydragon



Category: Punderworld (Webcomic)
Genre: Adjusting, Cute, Epiphany, F/M, Redecorating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:28:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25032475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scholarlydragon/pseuds/scholarlydragon
Summary: Hades watches as Persephone redecorates and realizes that plant roots in rock might just be a shocking metaphor.
Relationships: Hades/Persephone (Punderworld)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 32





	A Need For Flowers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EllisEmme_Writes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllisEmme_Writes/gifts).



> With many thanks to my betas: Jessy, Alulah, and daalex.

There are days where I can only watch her.

Days where the calm serenity of underworld life seems to vanish beneath kinetic energy. Days on which the only sensible reactions to the whirlwind of green seem to be simple observation and a fervent hope to not be swept into the mayhem. To watch as everything I’ve built for centuries seems engulfed in a verdant swath of chaos.

Now, as I watch Persephone dance her way through turning a disused corridor into a veritable jungle, the word ‘engulfed’ seems particularly apropos. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such growth even on the surface, let alone down here. Flowers burst from every surface, vines twist from the ceiling, and softly curled ferns cover the floor. Her short chiton swishes against her thighs as she moves, the white fabric and her skin liberally smeared with grass stains.

The sound of soft  _ pings _ had drawn me here, the staccato noises echoing down the rocky halls. It hadn’t sounded like rattling gravel, or water falling from stalactites. It had sounded like nothing I had ever heard and I’d been awash in confusion until reaching this hall and finding the source.

The  _ pings _ had been plants, their roots bursting in impossible profusion through solid stone. Impossible under normal circumstances, that is. When coaxed out by a goddess of life itself? Even the stone of the underworld became the most fertile of soils.

I’d folded my arms, leaned one shoulder on the wall, and simply watched as my very own personal pandemonium turned yet more of the austerity of my realm into riotous color.

On the one hand, it was nothing I hadn’t seen before. Persephone had been growing jungles throughout my domain since she had arrived. But, on the other, it never ceases to amaze me. I love watching her and the sheer joy that exudes from her every movement as she revels in the growth she brings out.

An odd sort of vicarious thrill runs through me. What would it be like to feel so unbridled, with no greater concern than the joy of the moment? For an instant, I envy her, but then I realize.

I’ve had that. With her.

_ Because _ of her.

As much as she has changed the underworld itself, she has changed me. For sure, I have yet to dance through the corridors, but I am just as sure that I am no longer the same creature I was pre-Persephone. Laughter has come more easily, my steps have been lighter. Even the interminable work of cataloging and sorting shades has seemed far from tedium, knowing that she is here with me.

A sweet pang seems to ripple through my chest.

I’d thought that surviving Persephone’s chaos unscathed was the goal. It is a bit of a shock to realize that, not only do I  _ not _ want that, it has likely been a losing proposition from the start. From the moment I met her, it is as though her vines have wound their way through my being, as tenaciously as they burst through stone, brightening what had been a somber existence and outlook with sparkling life.

She has changed so much more than the way the walls of my caverns look. As I watch her dance to a halt and tilt her head back to survey her work, I press a hand to my chest, feeling as though Eros’ arrow has pierced me anew. She has helped me to be more than I ever thought I could be. If this rapid upheaval is anything to go by… What might happen in the rest of our eternity is staggering. Such a gift is matchless against the idea of a few vine-festooned halls, even if they displeased me.

I would give her anything.

My arms ache to hold her and I push off the wall, bare feet padding silently on stone, then soft mosses as I enter her impromptu jungle. Persephone still stands, now gently touching blooms here and there. The flowers respond almost eagerly to her, lifting and brightening. I smile as I wrap my arms around her. 

Persephone gives no sign whatsoever of startlement, only humming, and leaning back, nearly melting into my arms.

“Mmm. Hello, there.”

Her voice is a throaty whisper and I chuckle as I bend down to press a kiss to her shoulder.

“Hello, yourself. How did you know it was me?”

She turns her head, laughter in her eyes as she looks back at me.

“Aside from the fact that no other being would dare to hug me like that? I felt you coming as soon as you stepped onto the moss.”

“Ah, of course.” I kiss the side of her neck. Her skin is as sweet as summer rain. “Did you enjoy your bout of redecorating?”

Some of the mirth leaves her eyes as she watches me, and she turns, lip caught between her teeth. She’s adorable.

“I- um. Yes.” Persephone looks up and around us, tracing her eyes over the greenery. “What do you think? It… was just so bare.”

As I watch her, the same swift, sweet pain pierces me again, and my heart thumps. Everything needs a change after centuries. From bare, gray stone to chthonic gods. 

With a smile, I press a kiss to her forehead and whisper, “I love it.”

A soft scent fills the air as blooms flourish open in her hair as Persephone smiles and closes her eyes. I can feel her small hands against my chest, fingers pressing against the fabric of my robe. The dazzling blooms nod just behind her, every color of the spectrum. They might as well be growing in the most fertile soil in creation rather than sheer, hard stone.

“I especially,” I tell her in a low voice, “love the dancing. You were simply delightful.”

Persephone giggles and my heart skips. “I just moved as the mood struck me.”

I smile and kiss her again, our lips meeting in a tender caress. Persephone bites her lip and smiles at me, the light of irrepressible joy in her eyes. 

“I just felt a need for flowers,” she murmurs and I laugh softly, tucking a tendril of hair and flower petals behind her ear. 

“My darling, I feel quite the same.”


End file.
